A long, long time ago, in a dense jungle, there lived a wild cat named Timmy Tiger. Timmy Tiger had a lovely golden fur coat.
He was very proud of his fur coat, for it had not a stripe or a spot on it.

*************************************************
Timmy Tiger also had a habit of lying. Whenever someone asked if he had done this or that, he always replied: "Why, of course not!"
This went on for sometime.

*************************************************

One day, as Timmy Tiger was out walking through the jungle, Elliot Elephant stopped him. He wore a shocked look on his face.
"Timmy, I heard that you smashed the water rats house this morning. Did you?"

*************************************************

Timmy was very angry and he frowned.
"Why, of course not! How could you even ask me such a thing?" he asked.

*************************************************

Elliot Elephant felt ashamed.
"I was only wondering. I'm sorry." he said, hanging his head.
Timmy Tiger nodded.
"Just don't let it happen again." he replied. Elliot turned and lumbered away, still frowning.

*************************************************

Timmy Tiger continued on his walk. Along the way, he paused, looking at the water rats house he had earlier smashed. He didn't feel sorry though.
In fact, the sight of the water rats crying made him laugh until the earth shook.

*************************************************

As he laughed, the old wise monkey appeared, and thumped him on the head.
Thwack!
Timmy Tiger stopped laughing.
"What did you do that for?" he roared, rubbing his head.

*************************************************

The old monkey stared at him. Then he pointed a finger at him.
"You young kit. You walk around, thinking you can be mean and tell lies all the time. And no one knows." he told Timmy.

*************************************************

Pointing a finger up to the sky, he nodded.
"Well, you just listen to me. The next time you lie, I swear by the sun and the moon above me, your fine golden coat will get a black stripe on it. This will go on until you are covered in stripes."
With that, he turned and walked away.

*************************************************

Timmy Tiger looked after the old monkey. Timmy glared after the old monkey.
Then he started to chuckle. Soon the chuckle became a roaring laugh.
"The old fool. I'll show him. Nothing will happen to me." he vowed.

*************************************************

Walking back home to his cave, Timmy Tiger once again passed by the water rat's house.
"They deserved it anyway. They are always sneaking into my house, just looking for trouble." he growled.

*************************************************

As if it was timed, a wide black stripe appeared across his shoulder blades.
"Oh no!" he exclaimed in shock. "That old monkey wasn't joking. Now look at my coat. I have a horrible stripe on it."

*************************************************

"Maybe it will wash off." he thought. With that Timmy Tiger leaped into the jungle lake to wash it off.
No matter how hard he tried, the black stripe would not come off.

**************************************************

Finally Timmy Tiger gave up and climbed out of the lake. Slinking away, he hid himself in his dark cave home.

*************************************************

The news of Timmy Tigers black stripe spread faster than wild fire. By the next morning, all the jungle animals had heard of it. They gathered outside the front of Timmy Tiger's home.

*************************************************

Timmy Tiger tried to deny that he had a stripe.
"It's only something I ate." he said.  "It will go away in a day or two. Now scram!" he yelled. A new black stripe appeared. And Timmy shrank farther into his home.

*************************************************

Each denial was another lie. And each lie created another stripe on his coat. Until his once golden coat was covered in wide black stripes, just as the old monkey had said.

*************************************************

At long last, the wise old monkey returned. He saw Timmy and shook his head.
"You see, Timmy, you can hide the truth. But you can't hide the terrible marks lies leave." he told him.

*************************************************

Timmy Tiger hung his head, sadden by the truth of the monkey's words.
"What can I do?" he asked.
The old monkey smiled.
"Stop lying and being mean. Tell the truth, no matter how hard it is." he said.

**************************************************

"I will." Timmy Tiger promised. "I will never tell another lie. And I will be kind to everyone."
The old monkey patted his friend on the head.
"Good. I believe you. However, the stripes you bear will remain with you and all tigers after you as a reminder of your promise."

*************************************************

And so, down to this day, all tigers have wide black stripes all over.
The moral of this story is just what the old wise monkey told Timmy Tiger:
You can hide the truth. But you can't hide the terrible marks lies leave.